Passive Income From Redbubble and Why I No Longer Recommend It.
Passive income from Redbubble and why I no longer recommend it.
The first Print on Demand(POD) website I ever uploaded to was Redbubble. I was fascinated by the idea that I could make designs in my spare time and make some money. When I started on Redbubble, I was uploading a few designs a week. I was new to design work, and learning how to make vectors in Adobe Illustrator. I was also researching what was allowed to be uploaded.
I am remembering this from memory, so my numbers may be off, but I an confident that they are accurate enough to give an idea of why I loved Redbubble and why I now do no recommend uploading to it.
When I started in July of 2016, I saw results immediately. My first month, I think I uploaded a few hundred designs and a I made 33$. The next few months I added 50 to 100 new designs and my earning were slowly rising. Below are my first 3 months.
14 September 2016PaypalUS$82.09
14 August 2016PaypalUS$62.85
14 July 2016PaypalUS$32.80
I kept adding designs each month when I had time and my earnings were rising steadily. Sure I had some bad months and good month but September of 2018 was when I hit my peak. I had 1500 designs up and I made ~250$. At this point I decided I would get very serious and work really hard. I calculated that I could make 50 designs a day, or about 1500 designs a month. Doing the math, I figured I would make about 500$ the next month. My earnings actually dropped the next 2 months. I was still pumping out designs, I estimate that I had about 3000 designs by November 2018.
15 December 2018PaypalUS$255.35
15 November 2018PaypalUS$170.42
15 October 2018PaypalUS$162.47
15 September 2018PaypalUS$250.20
15 August 2018PaypalUS$181.78
I figured it was just bad luck, the economy or something else. I pushed forward ever so sure that if I just keep adding designs, eventually I will earn more. I got to 7000 designs around September 2019. My earnings we dropping even then I had added 5000 more designs.
14 December 2019PaypalUS$218.26
14 November 2019PaypalUS$142.84
14 October 2019PaypalUS$108.54
14 September 2019PaypalUS$168.43
I am proud to see how many things I have sold. I only have 109 followers but I have had 10.9k likes on my designs and sold 12.8k items. The vast majority have been stickers(~95%), a few shirts(~3%), less hoodies(~.5%), and even less of everything else.
At this point I gave up on Redbubble. I had lost the battle and wasted so much time with no increases in earnings. I am still not sure what happened or why. Slowly each month my income has dwindled down to under 50$ on some months. My complete list of earnings below will show how I increased on average each month until December of 2018, and then slowly went down even though many more designs were added.
14 January 2022PaypalUS$35.01
14 December 2021PaypalUS$96.13
18 November 2021PaypalUS$40.55
14 October 2021PaypalUS$30.73
14 September 2021PaypalUS$62.83
15 August 2021PaypalUS$69.38
14 July 2021PaypalUS$52.41
14 June 2021PaypalUS$54.01
14 May 2021PaypalUS$76.87
14 April 2021PaypalUS$95.29
15 March 2021PaypalUS$57.07
14 February 2021PaypalUS$69.13
14 January 2021PaypalUS$53.82
14 December 2020PaypalUS$113.78
14 November 2020PaypalUS$143.36
14 October 2020PaypalUS$105.11
14 September 2020PaypalUS$164.61
14 August 2020PaypalUS$223.75
14 July 2020PaypalUS$156.20
14 June 2020PaypalUS$136.59
14 May 2020PaypalUS$96.62
14 April 2020PaypalUS$98.06
14 March 2020PaypalUS$125.74
14 February 2020PaypalUS$160.87
15 January 2020PaypalUS$150.47
14 December 2019PaypalUS$218.26
14 November 2019PaypalUS$142.84
14 October 2019PaypalUS$108.54
14 September 2019PaypalUS$168.43
14 August 2019PaypalUS$175.49
17 July 2019PaypalUS$152.95
14 July 2019PaypalUS$140.22
15 June 2019PaypalUS$243.73
14 May 2019PaypalUS$260.48
14 April 2019PaypalUS$212.03
15 March 2019PaypalUS$173.07
14 February 2019PaypalUS$189.72
15 January 2019PaypalUS$211.70
15 December 2018PaypalUS$255.35
15 November 2018PaypalUS$170.42
15 October 2018PaypalUS$162.47
15 September 2018PaypalUS$250.20
15 August 2018PaypalUS$181.78
14 July 2018PaypalUS$119.39
15 June 2018PaypalUS$150.11
14 May 2018PaypalUS$131.29
11 April 2018PaypalUS$111.70
14 March 2018PaypalUS$100.15
15 February 2018PaypalUS$103.43
15 January 2018PaypalUS$116.42
15 December 2017PaypalUS$144.10
14 November 2017PaypalUS$76.42
14 October 2017PaypalUS$129.18
14 September 2017PaypalUS$139.69
14 August 2017PaypalUS$122.83
14 July 2017PaypalUS$84.27
14 June 2017PaypalUS$73.91
14 May 2017PaypalUS$89.11
14 April 2017PaypalUS$105.66
14 March 2017PaypalUS$107.59
14 February 2017PaypalUS$92.71
16 January 2017PaypalUS$100.17
15 December 2016PaypalUS$130.12
14 November 2016PaypalUS$60.81
14 October 2016PaypalUS$79.22
14 September 2016PaypalUS$82.09
14 August 2016PaypalUS$62.85
14 July 2016PaypalUS$32.80
Appreciate the creator